(48 B.C.)
Pompey, because he was encamped on a hill, drew up his army at the
very foot of it, ever in expectation, as may be conjectured, that
Caesar would expose himself to this disadvantageous situation. Caesar,
seeing no likelihood of being able to bring Pompey to an action,
judged it the most expedient method of conducting the war to decamp
from that post, and to be always in motion; with this hope, that by
shifting his camp and removing from place to place, he might be more
conveniently supplied with corn, and also that by being in motion he
might get some opportunity of forcing them to battle, and might by
constant marches harass Pompey's army, which was not accustomed to
fatigue.[47] These matters being settled, when the signal for marching
was given, and the tents struck, it was observed that shortly before,
contrary to his daily practise, Pompey's army had advanced farther
than usual from his entrenchments, so that it appeared possible to
come to an action on equal ground. Then Caesar addrest himself to his
soldiers, when they were at the gates of the camp, ready to march out.
"We must defer," says he, "our march at present, and set our thoughts
on battle, which has been our constant wish; let us then meet the foe
with resolute souls. We shall not hereafter easily find such an
opportunity." He immediately marched out at the head of his troops.
Pompey also, as was afterward known, at the unanimous solicitation of
his friends, had determined to try the fate of a battle. For he had
even declared in council a few days before that, before the battalions
came to battle, Caesar's army would be put to the rout. When most
people exprest their surprize at it, "I know," says he, "that I
promise a thing almost incredible; but hear the plan on which I
proceed, that you may march to battle with more confidence and
resolution. I have persuaded our cavalry, and they have engaged to
execute it, as soon as the two armies have met, to attack Caesar's
right wing on the flank, and enclosing their army on the rear throw
them into disorder, and put them to the rout, before we shall throw a
weapon against the enemy. By this means we shall put an end to the
war, without endangering the legions, and almost without a blow. Nor
is this a difficult matter, as we far outnumber them in cavalry." At
the same time, he gave them notice to be ready for battle on the day
following, and since the opportunity which they had so often wished
for was now arrived, not to disappoint the opinion generally
entertained of their experience and valor....
Caesar, observing his former custom, had placed the tenth legion on the
right, the ninth on the left, altho it was very much weakened by the
battles at Dyrrachium.[48] He placed the eighth legion so close to the
ninth as almost to make one of the two, and ordered them to support
each other. He drew up on the field eighty cohorts, making a total of
twenty-two thousand men. He left two cohorts to guard the camp. He
gave the command of the left wing to Antonius, of the right to P.
Sulla, and of the center to Cn. Domitius; he himself took his post
opposite Pompey. At the same time, fearing, from the disposition of
the enemy which we have previously mentioned, lest his right wing
might be surrounded by their numerous cavalry, he rapidly drafted a
single cohort from each of the legions composing the third line,
formed of them a fourth line, and opposed them to Pompey's cavalry,
and, acquainting them with his wishes, admonished them that the
success of that day depended on their courage. At the same time, he
ordered the third line and the entire army not to charge without his
command; that he would give the signal whenever he wished them to do
so....
But our men, when the signal was given, rushed forward with their
javelins ready to be launched, but perceiving that Pompey's men did
not run to meet their charge, having acquired experience by custom,
and being practised in former battles, they of their own accord
repressed their speed, and halted almost midway, that they might not
come up with the enemy when their strength was exhausted, and after a
short respite they again renewed their course, and threw their
javelins, and instantly drew their swords, as Caesar had ordered them.
Nor did Pompey's men fail in this crisis, for they received our
javelins, stood our charge, and maintained their ranks; and, having
launched their javelins, had recourse to their swords. At the same
time, Pompey's horse, according to their orders, rushed out at once
from his left wing, and his whole host of archers poured after them.
Our cavalry did not withstand their charge; but gave ground a little,
upon which Pompey's horse prest them more vigorously, and began to
file off in troops, and flank our army. When Caesar perceived this, he
gave the signal to his fourth line, which he had formed of the six
cohorts. They instantly rushed forward and charged Pompey's horse with
such fury that not a man of them stood; but all wheeling about, not
only quitted their post, but galloped forward to seek a refuge in the
highest mountains. By their retreat the archers and slingers, being
left destitute and defenseless, were all cut to pieces. The cohorts,
pursuing their success, wheeled about upon Pompey's left wing, while
his infantry still continued to make battle, and attacked them in the
rear.
At the same time, Caesar ordered his third line to advance, which till
then had not been engaged, but had kept their post. Thus, new and
fresh troops having come to the assistance of the fatigued, and others
having made an attack on their rear, Pompey's men were not able to
maintain their ground, but all fled,[49] nor was Caesar deceived in his
opinion that the victory, as he had declared in his speech to his
soldiers, must have its beginning from those six cohorts, which he had
placed as a fourth line to oppose the horse. For by them the cavalry
were routed; by them the archers and slingers were cut to pieces; by
them the left wing of Pompey's army was surrounded, and obliged to be
the first to flee. But when Pompey saw his cavalry routed, and that
part of his army on which he reposed his greatest hopes thrown into
confusion, despairing of the rest, he quitted the field, and retreated
straightway on horseback to his camp, and calling to the centurions,
whom he had placed to guard the praetorian gate, with a loud voice,
that the soldiers might hear: "Secure the camp," says he, "defend it
with diligence, if any danger should threaten it; I will visit the
other gates, and encourage the guards of the camp." Having thus said,
he retired into his tent in utter despair, yet anxiously waiting the
issue.
Caesar having forced the Pompeians to flee into their entrenchment, and
thinking that he ought not to allow them any respite to recover from
their fright, exhorted his soldiers to take advantage of fortune's
kindness, and to attack the camp. Tho they were fatigued by the
intense heat, for the battle had continued till midday, yet, being
prepared to undergo any labor, they cheerfully obeyed his command. The
camp was bravely defended by the cohorts which had been left to guard
it, but with much more spirit by the Thracians and foreign
auxiliaries. For the soldiers who had fled for refuge to it from the
field of battle, affrighted and exhausted by fatigue, having thrown
away their arms and military standards, had their thoughts more
engaged on their further escape than on the defense of the camp. Nor
could the troops who were posted on the battlements long withstand the
immense number of our darts, but fainting under their wounds quitted
the place, and under the conduct of their centurions and tribunes
fled, without stopping, to the high mountains which adjoined the camp.
In Pompey's camp you might see arbors in which tables were laid, a
large quantity of plate set out, the floors of the tents covered with
fresh sods, the tents of Lucius Lentulus and others shaded with ivy,
and many other things which were proofs of excessive luxury, and a
confidence of victory, so that it might readily be inferred that they
had no apprehensions of the issue of the day, as they indulged
themselves in unnecessary pleasures, and yet upbraided with luxury
Caesar's army, distrest and suffering troops, who had always been in
want of common necessaries. Pompey, as soon as our men had forced the
trenches, mounting his horse, and stripping off his general's habit,
went hastily out of the back gate of the camp, and galloped with all
speed to Larissa. Nor did he stop there, but with the same despatch,
collecting a few of his flying troops, and halting neither day nor
night, he arrived at the seaside, attended by only thirty horse, and
went on board a victualing bark, often complaining, as we have been
told, that he had been so deceived in his expectation that he was
almost persuaded that he had been betrayed by those from whom he had
expected victory, as they began the flight.
Caesar, having possest himself of Pompey's camp, urged his soldiers not
to be too intent on plunder, and lose the opportunity of completing
their conquest. Having obtained their consent, he began to draw lines
round the mountain. The Pompeians distrusting the position, as there
was no water on the mountain, abandoned it, and all began to retreat
toward Larissa, which Caesar perceiving divided his troops, and
ordering part of his legions to remain in Pompey's camp, sent back a
part to his own camp, and, taking four legions with him, went by a
shorter road to intercept the enemy; and having marched six miles,
drew up his army. But the Pompeians, observing this, took a post on a
mountain, whose foot was washed by a river. Caesar having encouraged
his troops, tho they were greatly exhausted by incessant labor the
whole day, and night was now approaching, by throwing up works cut off
the communication between the river and the mountain, that the enemy
might not get water in the night. As soon as the work was finished,
they sent ambassadors to treat about a capitulation. A few senators
who had espoused that party made their escape by night.
At break of day, Caesar ordered all those who had taken post on the
mountain to come down from the higher grounds into the plain and pile
their arms. When they did this without refusal, and, with,
outstretched arms, prostrating themselves on the ground, with tears,
implored his mercy, he comforted them and bade them rise, and having
spoken a few words of his own clemency to alleviate their fears, he
pardoned them all, and gave orders to his soldiers that no injury
should be done to them, and nothing taken from them. Having used this
diligence, he ordered the legions in his camp to come and meet him,
and those which were with him to take their turn of rest, and go back
to the camp, and the same day went to Larissa.
In that battle, no more than two hundred privates were missing, but
Caesar lost about thirty centurions, valiant officers. Crastinus, also,
of whom mention was made before, fighting most courageously, lost his
life by the wound of a sword in the mouth, nor was that false which he
declared when marching to battle; for Caesar entertained the highest
opinion of his behavior in that battle, and thought him highly
deserving of his approbation. Of Pompey's army, there fell about
fifteen thousand; but upward of twenty-four thousand were made
prisoners; for even the cohorts which were stationed in the forts
surrendered to Sulla. Several others took shelter in the neighboring
states. One hundred and eighty stands of colors and nine eagles were
brought to Caesar. Lucius Domitius, fleeing from the camp to the
mountains, his strength being exhausted by fatigue, was killed....
Caesar thought he ought to postpone all business and pursue Pompey,
whithersoever he should retreat, that he might not be able to provide
fresh forces, and renew the war; he therefore marched on every day, as
far as his cavalry were able to advance, and ordered one legion to
follow him by shorter journeys. A proclamation was issued by Pompey at
Amphipolis[50] that all the young men of that province, Grecians and
Roman citizens, should take the military oath; but whether he issued
it with an intention of preventing suspicion, and to conceal as long
as possible his design of fleeing farther, or to endeavor to keep
possession of Macedonia by new levies, if nobody pursued him, it is
impossible to judge. He lay at anchor one night, and calling together
his friends in Amphipolis, and collecting a sum of money for his
necessary expenses, upon advice of Caesar's approach, set sail from
that place, and arrived in a few days at Mitylene.[51] Here he was
detained two days, and having added a few galleys to his fleet he went
to Cilicia, and thence to Cyprus. There he is informed that, by the
consent of all the inhabitants of Antioch[52] and Roman citizens who
traded there, the castle had been seized to shut him out of the town;
and that messengers had been dispatched to all those who were reported
to have taken refuge in the neighboring states, that they should not
come to Antioch; that if they did so, it would be attended with
imminent danger to their lives. The same thing had happened to Lucius
Lentulus, who had been Consul the year before, and to Publius
Lentulus, a consular senator, and to several others at Rhodes,[53] who
having followed Pompey in his flight, and arrived at the island, were
not admitted into the town or port; and having received a message to
leave that neighborhood, set sail much against their will; for the
rumor of Caesar's approach had now reached those states.
Pompey, being informed of these proceedings, laid aside his design of
going to Syria, and having taken the public money from the farmers of
the revenue, and borrowed more from some private friends, and having
put on board his ships a large quantity of brass for military
purposes, and two thousand armed men, whom he partly selected from the
slaves of the tax farmers, and partly collected from the merchants,
and such persons as each of his friends thought fit on this occasion,
he sailed for Pelusium.[54] It happened that King Ptolemy,[55] a
minor, was there with a considerable army, engaged in war with his
sister Cleopatra, whom a few months before, by the assistance of his
relatives and friends, he had expelled from the kingdom; and her camp
lay at a small distance from his. To him Pompey applied to be
permitted to take refuge in Alexandria, and to be protected in his
calamity by his powerful assistance, in consideration of the
friendship and amity which had subsisted between his father and him.
But Pompey's deputies, having executed their commission, began to
converse with less restraint with the king's troops, and to advise
them to act with friendship to Pompey, and not to think meanly of his
bad fortune. In Ptolemy's army were several of Pompey's soldiers, of
whom Gabinius[56] had received the command in Syria, and had brought
them over to Alexandria, and at the conclusion of the war had left
with Ptolemy the father of the young king.
The king's friends, who were regents of the kingdom during the
minority, being informed of these things, either induced by fear, as
they afterward declared, lest Pompey should corrupt the king's army,
and seize on Alexandria[57] and Egypt, or despising his bad fortune,
as in adversity friends commonly change to enemies, in public gave a
favorable answer to his deputies, and desired him to come to the king;
but secretly laid a plot against him, and dispatched Achillas, captain
of the king's guards, a man of singular boldness, and Lucius
Septimius, a military tribune, to assassinate him. Being kindly
addrest by them, and deluded by an acquaintance with Septimius,
because in the war with the pirates the latter had commanded a company
under him, he embarked in a small boat, with a few attendants, and was
there murdered by Achillas and Septimius. In like manner, Lucius
Lentulus was seized by the king's order, and put to death in
prison....